Hello all,
I have just created an account and I am hoping to solicit the knowledge/experience of the patients and doctors (?) on this board. I am 28, female, have been dealing with "strange" visual symptoms for over a year. This includes "flash bulb" type effects, transient (days-weeks or occasionally permanent?) small shimmering spots and blind spots in my field of vision. These effects occur on and off in both eyes, but not simultaneously. There is never any pain associated with these effects, and they are very difficult to precisely describe.
I have visited two optometrists and two ophthalmologists/retinal specialists and they cannot find any cause of my visual symptoms after fundus photos, OCT, etc. Recently they referred me for brain and spinal MRI to "rule out" neurological problems. The spinal MRI was normal but the brain MRI detected small, scattered lesions in the periventricular and subcortical white matter, with one lesion on the corpus callosum. The radiologist report said the lesions were "non-specific" but high on the differential diagnosis list is "demyelinating process."
I saw a neurologist who basically said that the MRI looked quite suspicious for MS, but my neurological exam at the clinic was normal. (I have never had any neurological problems in the past to my knowledge.) He said he does not believe that my eye problems are caused by optic neuritis, or are related to these lesions on the MRI, because my eye symptoms do not really match the clinical symptoms of MS. The lesions are non-enhancing on the MRI, which means they cannot explain my current eye problem (a small scotoma in the right eye that has been there a bit longer than a week.) He does not know when the lesions formed.
I am very shocked by the lesions on my MRI, and even more concerned because there seems to be no apparent cause for my visual symptoms, unless this is some very strange presentation of MS/optic neuritis. I am being referred for spinal tap and VEP but in the meantime, I would like to know if anyone else has had similar strange vision symptoms prior to diagnosis with MS.
Thanks so much.
I have just created an account and I am hoping to solicit the knowledge/experience of the patients and doctors (?) on this board. I am 28, female, have been dealing with "strange" visual symptoms for over a year. This includes "flash bulb" type effects, transient (days-weeks or occasionally permanent?) small shimmering spots and blind spots in my field of vision. These effects occur on and off in both eyes, but not simultaneously. There is never any pain associated with these effects, and they are very difficult to precisely describe.
I have visited two optometrists and two ophthalmologists/retinal specialists and they cannot find any cause of my visual symptoms after fundus photos, OCT, etc. Recently they referred me for brain and spinal MRI to "rule out" neurological problems. The spinal MRI was normal but the brain MRI detected small, scattered lesions in the periventricular and subcortical white matter, with one lesion on the corpus callosum. The radiologist report said the lesions were "non-specific" but high on the differential diagnosis list is "demyelinating process."
I saw a neurologist who basically said that the MRI looked quite suspicious for MS, but my neurological exam at the clinic was normal. (I have never had any neurological problems in the past to my knowledge.) He said he does not believe that my eye problems are caused by optic neuritis, or are related to these lesions on the MRI, because my eye symptoms do not really match the clinical symptoms of MS. The lesions are non-enhancing on the MRI, which means they cannot explain my current eye problem (a small scotoma in the right eye that has been there a bit longer than a week.) He does not know when the lesions formed.
I am very shocked by the lesions on my MRI, and even more concerned because there seems to be no apparent cause for my visual symptoms, unless this is some very strange presentation of MS/optic neuritis. I am being referred for spinal tap and VEP but in the meantime, I would like to know if anyone else has had similar strange vision symptoms prior to diagnosis with MS.
Thanks so much.
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